Disadvantage in Hamilton-Wentworth
By all indications, the condition of child poverty in Hamilton-Wentworth is noteworthy. The Region of Hamilton-Wentworth's Community Services Department General Welfare (GWA) statistics for 1997 showed an average of 21,624 adults and children per month receiving social assistance, or about 3.4% of the population of Hamilton-Wentworth. Of the municipal caseload, approximately 1500 families are led by single parents, and it is estimated that another 5000 - 6000 single-parent families receive provincially administered Family Benefits (FBA). Statistics Canada in 1991 calculated that 15,760 families -- 18% of all Hamilton families and in total 66,990 persons -- had low incomes. By 1996 this had increased to 21.9% of all families in the Region.[1]
Other factors suggest a growing population of working poor. While the unemployment rate in Hamilton-Wentworth is now considered to be between 6.6 and 8%, there is evidence to suggest that the nature of employment is changing. Jobs may be of shorter duration, and wages may be declining. During the first 10 months of 1997, an average of 192 new General Welfare applicants per month applied for employment/income support due to lay-offs, while 148.4 people per month applied because their Employment Insurance Benefits were exhausted. By October 1997, another 2,699 individuals working full-time received "top up" income through municipal benefits. This latter group represented 12.4% of the entire GWA caseload.
For just one agency, such as the Good Shepherd, poverty in Hamilton means that, on an average day in 1997, 30 women and children received meals, shelter and/or counselling at Martha House, 21 teens ate, lived and/or were counselled at Brennan House, 19 women received meals, shelter and/or counselling at Mary's Place and 514 people received at least one meal from the Good Shepherd Centre.
Poverty is not the only factor which creates disadvantage for Hamilton-Wentworth’s children. Our region has other unique characteristics which speak to the need for culturally sensitive and specific programming for children and their families. The region is said to have the second highest number of new immigrants (behind Toronto) in Ontario. A significant First Nations population lives off-reserve in the city. A higher number of low-birth- weight babies are born in Hamilton-Wentworth than the provincial average. The numbers have been increasing. [2] Extremely low-birth-weight children (ELBW) experience many problems, including school problems. A Hamilton study has found that school problems continue into adolescence and a large proportion need special education services .[3] In addition to these children are those with very special needs whose families are attracted to the area by specialized children’s services, including the rehabilitation and children’s treatment services provided through the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation at Chedoke/McMaster Hospital. This results in a large population of children with disabilities and other special needs to be supported in this community.
There are other indicators which point to concerns for our youth. The Teen Pregnancy Rate (ages 15 - 19)[4] in Hamilton-Wentworth has remained consistently higher than the provincial average, which has risen slightly each year since 1988.[5] In 1989, 42.7 teen pregnancies in Hamilton-Wentworth occurred for every 1000 women, compared with the Ontario average of 38.3 teen pregnancies/1000. By 1995, teen pregnancies rose to 50.6 per1000 in Hamilton-Wentworth while the Ontario average was 47.4 per1000. Teen pregnancies are associated with risks to the baby. A study of Central West Region of Ontario with approximately 27,000 live births annually between 1988 and1994 found that low education and teen mothers were correlated with early neonatal death and low-birth- weight.[6] Teen-age mothers in Toronto living in high-risk neighborhoods have a 24% higher rate of lower-birth-weight babies than the general population..[7]
The number of children who leave school without a graduating diploma is another indicator of concern in our community. Every year numbers of students, the size of a large high school, drop out of school between the start and the end of the school year in the public board. Hamilton, Glanbrook and Stoney Creek have a lower percentage of the population completing high school than the provincial average. As education is correlated with income and employment, low educational attainment of the parent is a risk factor affecting the development of their children.[8]
Yet the effects of such disadvantage on the well-being of children can be reduced by a number of well- researched interventions such as good prenatal health and adequate nutrition of the mother; good postnatal health and adequate nutrition of the child; bonding of the child with a nurturing caregiver; positive, encouraging discipline; opportunities for learning experiences in the home and community, especially early childhood education; and positive value being placed on learning and education by the caregiver. Moreover, these interventions should be the experience of every child.
[1] Social Well-being Index Spring1998 Update, Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton-Wentworth.
[2]In the Central West Region there was an increase in the proportion of low-birth weight babies from 51 to 61 per 1000 births between 1988 to 1994 “Trends and Variations in Perinatal Mortality and Low Birth Weight and the Association of Socioeconomic Risk Factors with Outcomes” Kyong-Soon Lee, Debbie Sheehan, Isaac Luginaah, Tom Abernathy, St .Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton. Paper delivered to the “Together for Healthy Kids” Conference, Hamilton, June 1998.
[3] A regional cohort of approximately 150 ELBW children was matched with approximately 142 children. Use of special education was 45% at 8years and 48% in their teens by ELBW children, compared to controls of 17% and teen 10%. Grades were repeated by 28% of ELBW children at 8 years and 25% in their teens, compared to controls of 3% at 8 years and 6% in their teens“Extremely Low Birth Weight Infants at Adolescence - Do They Outgrow Their School Problems?” l.Hoult, D.Streiner, B.Stoskopf ,P.Rosenbaum, S.Saigal, Departments of Pediatrics; Clinical Epidemiology, McMaster University, Hamilton.. Paper delivered to the “Together for Healthy Kids” Conference, Hamilton, June 1998.
[5] Maureen J. Orton, Ph.D, Study Director, Ontario Study of Adolescent Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Disease, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, in a response to the Honourable Elizabeth Witmer, Minister of Health regarding Bill 152, November 28, 1997
[6]. “Trends and Variations in Perinatal Mortality and Low Birth Weight and the Association of Socioeconomic Risk Factors with Outcomes” Kyong-Soon Lee, Debbie Sheehan, Isaac Luginaah, Tom Abernathy, St .Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton. Paper delivered to the “Together for Healthy Kids” Conference, Hamilton, June 1998.
[7] The First Duty: The Report of the Metro Task Force on Services to Young Children and Families May 1997 p.20
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